After releasing a cartoon on Instagram attacking the Australian Government’s push for mandatory vaccination, cartoonist Michael Leunig (pictured above) was later informed by the Age daily newspaper that he would no longer be working for them in his capacity as a Political Cartoonist. The cartoon was rejected for publication before Leunig released the material on social media, causing a backlash from pro-mandate accounts, while prompting the newspaper’s editor to inform Leunig that he was disconnected from the audience. RT has the story.
Speaking to The Australian on Monday, Leunig said that while the editorial team has censored about a dozen of his works this year, the last straw appeared to be an anti-mandate cartoon which was a play on the iconic ‘tank man’ photo. Leunig’s cartoon shows a man staring down a tank, with its main gun being replaced by a syringe.
The original photo depicts a lone Chinese protester standing before a line of tanks during the 1989 pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square.
While his cartoon was rejected by The Age, Leunig published the drawing on Instagram, triggering backlash from the proponents of vaccine mandates.
Shortly after the controversy erupted, Leunig, who worked at the newspaper for over 20 years, was told that his services as a Political Cartoonist were no longer needed. Gay Alcorn, Editor of The Daily Age, reportedly told the artist that he was “out of touch” with readers before notifying him of his dismissal. While Alcorn praised Leunig as “brilliant” in a comment to The Australian, he confirmed that his works would no longer appear on the editorial page. The newspaper still plans to commission lifestyle cartoons from Leunig, however.
Leunig accused the newspaper of “wokeism and humorlessness“, defending the cartoon as an accurate reflection of the times.
Worth reading in full.
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Looks like a political cartoon of vaccine is now as controversial as a cartoon of prophet Mohammad
RT published it
Why not publish the cartoon with the article for readers to see ?!!
Why not publish the cartoon with the article !!??
A picture speaks a thousand words ……. and the Australian Fascists know it.
As I have posted before, the fascist global state, headquartered in Switzerland and consisting of what were once called “Western liberal democracies”, has no free press, only a state-controlled press. Sacking journalists and cartoonists with sympathies towards the ancien régime is standard protocol, pour encourager les autres, etc. Look at the Telegraph’s vile and disgusting purging of Bob Moran, as another example.
Leunig, a hybrid Christian-Socialist, did a good, if rather abstract, line in hopelessness against an uncaring, and often malign, universe. For this he was, justifiably, quite popular as the voice of the sad, forlorn Everyman and his sole defense of Hope. But let Leunig stray from the general to the specific manifestation of the Great Crushing of the Little Guy, as with the vaxx mandates which are now ubiquitous in most Australian states, and he cops a size twelve in his backside courtesy of the ‘free speech but …..’ Establishment media (The Melbourne-based paper, The Age, who sacked him for Wrongthink, portray themselves as the ‘liberal’ alternative to the Murdoch Media Monster).
‘Covid’ is really sorting out the wheat from the chaff, and the Age are definitely chaff after this little bit of censorship.
Leunig had earlier got quizzical about lockdown and was allowed to survive that narrative lapse but as the legitimacy of the whole lockdown/masks/’social-distancing’ farce, and the reputations of the political/’public health’ architects of the disastrous policy mess, now hangs on a Hail Mary pass in the form of an experimental, leaky and dangerous ‘vaccine’ and its mass take-up, this key pharmaceutical pillar must not be allowed to fall… Read more »
The Leunig anti-lockdown cartoon
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Over to you, phantom downvoter!
It’s a very apt cartoon as far as I can see. They are obviously very touchy about it. The cartoonist must have been onto something.
Just as important as the story itself is the fact that it was covered by RT and not by our media. It seems to me that we are having to look more and more to RT to find out what’s really going on in the world.
If free speech was really highly valued, every cartoonist in the world would knock out a cartoon defending this fellow cartoonist and protesting his treatment. That this will NOT happen is yet another tell about the state of our New Normal.
When the German artists came out with their satirical #allesdichtmachen videos and were immediately denounced as Nazis etc., one of the best known, Ulrich Tukur, stated the following:
“We just wanted to create a breath of fresh air. We wished for a open discussion about this erratic and counterproductive Corona politics that ruined so many for no reason.
Now, we have at least shown that our society is going horribly wrong and that the political incompetence has created enormous divisions.
If satire may not do everything anymore and if, even worse, it isn’t being understood anymore at all, the court jester must be silent.”
„Meine Kollegen und ich wollten lediglich ein Fenster in diesem trägen Haus aufreissen und frische Luft hereinlassen.“ heißt es da. Er habe sich lediglich eine „offene Diskussion um diese erratische und kontraproduktive Corona-Politik“ gewünscht, die ohne Not so viele Existenzen ruiniere.„So haben wir immerhin gezeigt, dass sich unsere Gesellschaft in einer erschreckenden Schieflage befindet und politische Inkompetenz wie ein Spaltkeil wirken kann. Darf die Satire nicht mehr alles, und schlimmer noch, wird sie überhaupt nicht mehr verstanden, muss der Hofnarr schweigen.“
Satire (often) works. Solution? Ban satire.
His point was that at that point it’s futile and will only endanger the court jesters.
When they came after the cartoonist, I did nothing since I was not a cartoonist ….
And who came after the cartoonists? The editors.
Today in Asda at the check out a heavily masked old lady ahead of me was gassing to the cashier.”I had my boaster over the weekend.My neighbour died suddenly at 70 and he was due his boaster”.I felt like pushing the old crone into moving traffic just to expediate the process.
Apologies slightly off topic.
No problems I agree with you
I (like countless others I’m sure) was recently the victim of another form of censorship – censoring comments in Reader Comment sections. I hope it’s okay to post this rebuttal protest at a site that does not censor or ban posters …
The sports website The Athletic has banned me from making comments at its Comments Section. This micro censorship is another ominous example of our Orwellian macro New Normal.
So what exactly did I do that rescinded my right to engage in free speech? I made a series of post defending athletes and coaches who refused to get vaccinated.
FWIW, I tried to find out what “code of conduct” my posts violated, but my five emailed requests seeking an explanation were never answered.
From this personal case study, I can now make a few general observations.
My first observation falls into the “duh” category … Censorship happens; now more than ever.
And the reason it happens rarely has anything to do with “divisive” or “hateful” speech, which I didn’t use. In fact, if I had a dollar for every time a reader called me an “idiot” or some other insult for making my dissenting posts, I’d have enough money to subscribe… Read more »
‘Scotland’s vaccine passport chaos: Pub and club bosses brand first weekend of Covid IDs an ‘unmitigated disaster’ with 550 revellers refused entry, staff abused and footfall down 40% forcing venues to close early’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10127915/Scotlands-vaccine-passport-chaos-Pub-bosses-brand-weekend-Covid-IDs-disaster.html
Result! said Nicola Sturgeon. Hopefully, she said, the remaining 60 % will stop going too.
Extremely apposite for a cartoon, and very relevant.
Vaccine mandates are wholly POLITICAL decisions, and therefore this was appropriate political comment.
But it’s too close to the bone for the fascists. They cannot abide any exposure of or challenge to their political agenda. All dissent to totalitarianism must be violently rooted out.
Of course, this is what we expected in totalitarian Germany or Soviet Russia, and China. But Australia?
Australia has well and truly gone over to the dark side.
The best political cartoonist always skewer political correctness and/or hypocrisy. Of course, we don’t have many real cartoonists left. Of course, they would come after the few who still remain. And have.
‘Dr Oxford’ soon got rid of Bob Moran, didn’t she?
Australia can no longer claim to be a liberal democracy.
‘If Fascism Ever Comes to America, It Will Come in the Name of Liberalism’ – Ronald Reagan
For Fascism see : Australia.
This is an absolute disgrace.
Australia (and NZ) are introducing apartheid.
In view of this, and the ludicrous trampling of human rights – only about 1,700 Aussies have died over TWO winters – I cannot see how the ENG cricket team can go on tour there next months.
Human rights abuses used to guarantee sporting isolation.
Have the English Cricket team members all been double/triple-jabbed? I expect they don’t really care about human rights abuses as long as they get a free plane ride and have a nice holiday.
Also over 500 have died from the jabs.
Not a good ratio is it?
Tiananmen Square and lockdown are both communist so there is no rational justification for butthurt.
Almost every powerful institution on the planet is in this up to their necks. When they see anyone with a voice step out of line, they will be brutal. When they seen themselves losing the general public, they will be ruthless. At every point they will be desperate to silence, to isolate, to divide. The more scared the are, the harsher will be the response. I think the main play will be to continue to try and isolate those who speak up or resist, to make them seem like enemies of the people. This is why they want to vaxx everyone – nothing to do with protecting them, it’s so that the vaxxed feel signed up and are less likely to admit they’ve been had.
“When they see anyone with a voice step out of line, they will be brutal.”
See: Julian Assange.
“Leuning accused the newspaper of ‘wokeism and humorlessness’“.
What? Is “wokeism” a general term now for banning a person for criticising the government?
Great cartoon, though.
Wokeism is Maoist.
Gay is a former ‘Fact Checker’
I’ve added her to the list (Australian section)
At the end of the day if you grant the government the power to inject what they like when they like it is not some trivial concession it is the end of the road for most of humanity. Even if the present products had better provenance and integrity than I think they do what happens next? Indeed, the people prosecuting this have only manifested harshness and brutality. The don’t like or care about us. There is some other agenda than our well-being.
Zyclon B?
Yes, if it is policy to kill you they can kill you just like that, and nowhere much to go. That is the logic of knuckling under.
Spot on.
… thereby proving the point of his cartoon.
But then again totalitarians aren’t known for their self awareness or their ability to have a laugh at their own expense.
The cartoonists who spread the company line are as safe as ever. A good cartoonist could come up with a powerful picture to illustrate my point (and the irony at work here) … but such a cartoon won’t get published. Sigh.
The ozzies do love their jabs – and can get rather violent & abusive towards anyone not in favour of vaccine coercion, as demonstrated in this video of Rebel News reporter Avi Yemini and some members of the public.
https://youtu.be/WvUqzjIKuKI
Avi Yemini is not a journalist, he’s just an attention-seeking twat. He puts those who are against the coercion of the ‘vaccines’ and ‘lockdowns’ in a bad light.
It would be better if he did some investigations into who is being paid by who, who imports the vaccines, etc. rather than just go round making himself look like a prat.
Only then he might get some respect from me.
Bwaaahaahaa, sounds like jealousy.
Lets see, he works for a news organisation, does pieces to camera reporting on aspects of the Oz fascist state and said pieces are available on tinternet.
But Waaahh! hes not a reporter cos he reports on the wrong things/ is Jewish/has tattoos/isn’t left wing etc etc.
Methinks you protest too much.
BBC News website
The Scottish government insisted it was continuing to engage with the sector to discuss implementation of the scheme.
A spokesperson said: “Covid-19 certification is a proportionate way of encouraging people to get vaccinated
Not even bothering to lie about it anymore
They are lying: It’s a way to force certain people to get vaccinated. An encouragement would be a benefit people can gain in exchange for doing something. And being allowed to go to some business premises and spend money there is not a benefit, not being allowed to do that is a harsh restriction of a very basic right (I suggest freedom of private enterprise as term here. Better suggestions welcome).
“Restriction of freedom.”
I was/ am unsure about the name of the right involved here. But thank you nevertheless.
It’s not encouragement, though, it’s coercion. It doesn’t give you the courage to do something, it induces fear of the consequences of not doing something.
If I put a gun to your head, I suppose the Scottish government would think that proportionate encouragement as well. After all, you still have a choice: you can choose whether you conform your behaviour to what I demand so that I don’t have to pull the trigger.
Yeah, right.
This is where these fascists are bucking the system. The international protocols that these countries have signed up to prohibit coercion to take drugs, including vaccines. It is not enough for them to argue (as did the NSW judge) that vaccine mandates are OK because nobody is sticking the needle forcibly in your arm, so you retain bodily autonomy. That would seem to authorize all sorts of torture and brainwashing then, provided the methods are non-contact.
But only this year, the Council of Europe, for example, warned about the non-medical use of vaccine passports (and using them as a means of coercion is a non-medical reason):
[T]he possible use of vaccination certificates, as well as immunisation data, for purposes other than strictly medical, for example… Read more »
Courage with a capital C.
More of us must stand against the tyranny. It will cost us, but the establishment is terrified it’ll catch on. They’ll break before we do.
Withold your money, your support, your votes from any who impose this madness.
Enough is enough.
The elections are all rigged, so I don’t think anyone is scared which way people vote.
All these brave souls that are speaking out, and getting sacked, banned, cancelled…are doing something right!
For sure Helena… a great film just out from Israel…
https://rumble.com/vn212d-the-testimonies-project-the-movie.html
My heart goes out to the many, many victims of vaxx apartheid… anyone that mandates these transfection, non-immunizing clot shots needs prison time…
ASAP
There’s increasing evidence that at least some of the side effects such as clotting and heart inflamation are caused by not aspirating the syringe to prevent injecting directly into the bloodstream instead of the muscle.
So they massively increase the risk of a bad reaction to the vaccine by not performing a simple procedure, as if the vaccines weren’t risky enough in the first place…
The next stage, if this does not prove sufficient warning to the disobedient, will be a well publicised stint in a psychiatric hospital.